Friday, September 25, 2009

Gran Fondo Racing in the U.S.A. in 2010

ICJ reader "Powerful Pete" left a comment yesterday in response to the Centurion Cycling announcement of three gran fondo events that planned for 2010. Powerful Pete wrote, "I am very curious to see if these catch on the way gran fondos do here in Italy."

It will be interesting to see if it catches on. In Italy it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a weekend in which a gran fondo is not already scheduled. There are magazines, such as GRANFONDO, dedicated to this type of racing.

With several different U.S. organizers planning events the schedule could look like this:

Colorado already has a number of big riders. Triple By Pass, Elephant Rock, Copper Trinagle, Buffalo Classic, Tour of Colorado, Ride the Rockies, etc, etc. How does a Grand Fondo differ? It states it's not a race.